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joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam
The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.
Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.
Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!
Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.
Click here to report a problem with this page.
Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:
- This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "info.std@safrica.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Prof. Ted Sullivan" <helploisarmstrong@gmail.com>
Reply-To: rev.c.aaron@outlook.com
Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2016 05:38:18 -0500
Subject: Greetings
Greetings,
How are you doing today? I hope you are doing great; I got your email
contact from your country’s Business Directory and decided to contact
you regarding a business proposal. In my search for a business
partner. My client is willing to invest $25.5Million but he said he
needs a honest, trusted and a worthy partner who he can have a meeting
as regards to the business before releasing his funds.
I told my client that you have a good profile with your company which
I got details about you on my research. Due to my clients reputation
and the source of funds, we will appreciate if you treat this matter
as top confidential.
Can we make a plan for a long term business relationship?
I await your anticipated response on my direct email: info.std@safrica.com
Sincerely,
Prof. Ted Sullivan
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Anti-fraud resources:
